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The under 14s cricket team enjoyed a 4 day tour in Guernsey in June, accompanied by Mr Wheatley and Mr Hale.

14 boys were invited and we travelled to Gatwick in the school minibus, bleary eyed from a 3.30am meet at school. Our 50-minute flight whizzed by and on arrival at Guernsey, we were provided with a minibus by Elizabeth College. They had kindly invited us to participate in the Elizabeth College Standard Chartered Private Banking Festival Of Junior Cricket and provided all our meals at their school. We were to play in an all day event on arrival and our first day was tiring but successful as we played some good cricket with the team winning the first game of the tour, Freddie Hannam scoring 30 runs not out and William Davis scoring 28 runs not out. We also bowled and fielded very well keeping the college down to only 80 runs. This was a great start to the tour. Having had dinner at the school, which was very nice, we headed to our farmhouse accommodation in another part of the island. All the boys shared a large room with bunk beds and we all had a good night’s sleep after a long day.

On Saturday we started off with a 30 over match in which Will Davis hit 74 runs and Louis Hannam 34 runs, not out. This was a massive boost to morale for the squad and the cricket was going really well for the team. This game was a real highlight of the tour because the team were very productive catching nearly every ball that was hit at them. Our bowling proved as dominant as our batting, with people like Henry Bailey, Will Davis, Callum Smith and Harry Olorenshaw all taking wickets. As soon as this game had finished, the whole squad hopped onto the minibus, savouring our delightful win and excited for what was to come for the rest of the day.

We headed off to the beach at Port Soif and all of the boys played some beach football, which was a real joy, with boys showing their skills in every way. After an exhausting game we walked to a café and all sat down to enjoy some ice creams and milkshakes. This was a nice and relaxing end to the day for the players to chat and reflect on all the activities. After this we went and watched the U15 Jersey vs Guernsey cricket game. We then drove to St Peter Port and got to chat with the friendly islanders of Guernsey. Then, we had a small trip to Vazon Bay where we got drenched by the huge waves crashing against the coast. Then, after dinner at St Elizabeth College, we all went back to the farmhouse, everyone tired, and ready for bed.

Sunday was a second highlight of the trip as we were to experience coast steering for the first time. We were all up for the challenge, including Mr Hale and Mr Wheatley, donning our safety clothing and helmets and led up some steep sea cliffs by the professional coaches. Everybody succeeded in completing the challenge, which included jumping off the cliff faces into the sea and which was recorded for posterity on Mr Wheatley’s Go-Pro camera.

We found the afternoon cricket more of a challenge having used a great deal of energy cliff jumping but we still managed to win- of course! We got the evening to go and play some Football and the boys really enjoyed this. After the Football, we walked along Cobo Bay and went to a restaurant where we had some very refreshing drinks whilst watching the sun set over the atlantic.

We also enjoyed a final day of cricket on the Monday in the morning, with a tour of the German Occupation Museum in the afternoon, telling us something of the history of the island during the German occupation, before flying home that evening.

We had great team camaraderie and it was fun to see our teachers “mucking in” with the activities. We were delighted to have won all our matches. A very memorable trip and we would like to thank Mr Wheatley and Mr Hale for all the time and effort they gave to not only organising the trip, but the fund raiser beforehand to cover the cost of the kits. Also thanks to the parents for helping with the fund raising as well as paying for the trip.